Patients who live in the Austin area can now undergo liver transplant evaluations (LTE) at the Baylor Scott & White Transplant Hepatology Clinic in Round Rock, Texas. The first LTEs outside of Baylor University Medical Center (Baylor Dallas), part of Baylor Scott & White Health, and Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth, began the last week of January.
The Round Rock clinic is one of 10 hepatology outreach clinics located throughout Texas. Hepatologists on the medical staff at Baylor Dallas and BSW Fort Worth travel to these outreach clinics to see patients and provide ongoing care.
Physicians providing the evaluations in Round Rock include transplant hepatologists Raja Dhanekula, MD, and James Trotter, MD, and surgeons Robert Goldstein, MD, and Giuliano Testa, MD.
“We are providing about 25 percent of our outpatient care in our outreach clinics,” James Trotter, MD, medical director of hepatology outreach strategy at Baylor Dallas says. “This means we can see patients where they live, and they only need to come to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for specialized services, such as transplant surgery. It makes managing liver disease much easier for our patients, and we are pleased to expand our liver transplant evaluations to patients in the Austin area. We hope to offer the evaluations in Round Rock once a month.”
Liver acquisition costs increase after implementation of acuity circle allocation policy
Acuity circles (AC) liver allocation policy was implemented to eliminate donor service area geographic boundaries from liver allocation and to decrease variability in median model of end-stage liver disease (MELD) score at transplant and wait list mortality. A team of researchers at Baylor Scott & White Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute found that the new policy also significantly increased transportation costs and acquisition fees.
Treatment advances made in bronchiectasis
There is hope on the horizon for patients with bronchiectasis with recent advances in treatment options.
New preservation technologies transform liver transplant
Three new organ preservation systems allow transplant surgeons to travel farther distances to procure donor livers and provide the ability to better assess potential donor livers that may have borderline function. Through the use of these new preservation systems, Baylor Scott & White Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute has greatly expanded its options for accepting donor livers.
Baylor Scott & White Health delivers multidisciplinary care to combat rise in liver cancer
In Texas, a disproportionate number of people have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and NASH cirrhosis. Combine these conditions with alcohol misuse, and you have a state with the highest rate of liver cancer in the nation.